This is What Congressional Micromanagement Looks Like

As congressional Republicans seek to develop a strategy to counter President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, they’ve hit on a new approach: Tell the president and the Homeland Security Department exactly how to secure the border -- right down to the specific type and amount of fences, roads and boat ramps to install at various locations.

This week, the House took up a measure introduced by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, aimed at guaranteeing “operational control” of the border -- that is, complete security -- within five years. If DHS fails in the task, Politico reported, its political appointees would face restrictions on pay raises and bonuses and would be banned from using government aircraft.

Under the bill, those appointees’ marching orders are very specific. Consider how Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis.,  characterized the legislation in announcing that he and Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., would introduce a companion measure in the Senate:

“This bill uses a sector-by-sector approach to outline capability requirements and includes a prescriptive list of required fencing and border security infrastructure.”

Indeed, the measure is exhaustively specific. Some examples of its language:

(c) FENCING AND INFRASTRUCTURE.—

(1) NEW FENCING.—Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall construct, at a minimum, each of the following: (A) Seven miles of double layer fencing in10 the Border Patrol’s San Diego sector in addition to such fencing in existence as of the date of the enactment of this Act. …

(2) FENCE REPAIR AND REPLACEMENT.—Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall replace, at a minimum, each of the following: (A) Thirty-one miles of landing mat fencing with bollard style fencing in the Border Patrol’s San Diego sector. ...

(3) ROAD CONSTRUCTION.—Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall complete, at a minimum, each of the following road construction projects to allow greater access for the Border Patrol: (A) Seven miles of road construction in the Border Patrol’s San Diego sector. (B) Ten miles of road construction in the Border Patrol’s El Centro sector. (C) Sixteen miles of road construction in the Border Patrol’s Yuma sector. (D) Fifty-four miles of road construction in the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector. ...

(7) BOAT RAMPS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall complete, at a minimum, the construction of each of the following: (A) Eight boat ramps in the Border Patrol’s Del Rio sector in addition to such ramps in existence as of the date of the enactment of this Act. (B) One boat ramp in the Border Patrol’s Laredo sector in addition to such ramps in existence as of the date of the enactment of this Act. (C) Twenty-one boat ramps in the Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley sector in addition to such ramps in existence as of the date of the enactment of this Act. ...

(2) ERADICATION.—The Chief of the Border Patrol shall coordinate with the heads of each relevant Federal and State agency to eradicate, to the greatest extent practicable, the Carrizo cane plant along the Rio Grande River. ...

That doesn’t include the pages and pages of directives on how to create, implement and report on dozens of performance measures related to the bill (which cannot be reviewed by top DHS or Obama administration officials before they are submitted to Congress), or the specific requirements for setting up a new “Border Security Verification Commission.”

Even more directives will be added as the legislation makes its way through the Senate, Johnson pledged: “Through committee hearings, I will build on Chairman McCaul’s efforts to ensure that our final bill prescribes what is truly needed at our borders and that the Department of Homeland Security effectively implements our border security prescriptions.”

That, for the uninitiated, is what micromanagement looks like.